THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE...LUKE 23:33-43Series: Characters at a CrucifixionPastor Stephen MuncherianApril 16, 2006

Please turn
with me to Luke 23 - starting at verse 33.

Last week National Geographic presented a documentary
on The Gospel of Judas.Did
any of you see it?They’ve found
and dated a codex papyrus book from the 4th century -
called The Gospel of Judas - that says its - quote:“The secret account of the
revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas
Iscariot during a week, three days before He
celebrated Passover.”National Geo says that this
“Fifth Gospel” - quote: “gives
new
insights into the relationship of Jesus and the
disciple who betrayed Him.”

Bottom line:Jesus and Judas were
Gnostics - Gnosticism being a heresy that even the
Apostle Paul condemned - Jesus and Judas were heretics
and this whole betrayal thing was a plan Jesus cooked
up with Judas - who really is the hero - the only
disciple who really understands Jesus.

Next month The Da Vinci Code comes out as a movie.Bottom line:Jesus
faked His death and ran off with Mary Magdalene to the
south of France where they founded a dynasty of
Frankish kings.We’ve all been
kept the dark about this through some massive cover-up
by the Roman Catholic Church.Best
description I’ve heard - is that the Da Vinci Code is
“a
masterwork of paranoid pseudohistory.”There’s no basis of reality in
any of this.

There are other non-credible theories about Jesus’
death that get pushed out in the media this time of
year.Some of which fit the Da
Vinci Code theme.

Jesus really didn’t die.He just
passed out.The soldier who ran a
spear into Jesus to see if He was dead was mistaken.The Jews - following burial procedures that
would have detected a pulse - missed it.

Or, the wrong grave theory - despite the fact that the
tomb of Joseph of Arimathea was a private burial vault
of a well known wealthy and influential man - not some
unmarked grave in a public cemetery - the women - the
disciples - and even the angels - got mixed up and all
went to the wrong tomb.

Then there’s the theory taught by Islam.Someone
else was crucified.Someone else
took Jesus’ place.Jesus - one of
the best known - most visible public figures of the
day - someone is made up to look like Jesus.This
person fools Pilate - Herod - the entire Jewish
religious and political leadership of the day - all of
Jesus’ followers who weren’t in on this - the
representatives of the Roman Government who would have
had to be duped or paid off in order to crucify the
wrong guy.

This guy - whoever he is goes the whole nine-yards -
the beatings - the scourging - the ridicule - being
spat at - everything that was done to Jesus -
including - and not least - the whole crucifixion with
the nails through the hands and feet - and even death
- for a hoax.Can you see this?Asking for volunteers?“Who wants
to play Jesus for the crucifixion?”

And the disciples - knowing this was all a sham - all
but John died - horrible deaths - tortured.Not one disciple recanted.Why
would
they do that if the crucifixion was a lie?

If we can cast doubt on the crucifixion - on the
resurrection - the basis of our Christian faith - that
what happened on that hill of Golgotha - and in that
tomb - if it really didn’t happen the way the Bible
says it happened - then we can go on living our lives
any way we choose to live them - without any
accountability to God.What we’re
doing here today is really just a bunch of religious
happy thoughts with no meaning beyond some false hopes
we need to cope with the futility of life.

Coming to Luke 23 - the scene of the crucifixion - as
we look through these verses keep in mind this thought
- what was true then is true now.Say
that with me, “What was true then is true now.”

Look with me at verse 33:“When they
came to the place called The Skull - in Aramaic - Golgotha - or
from the Latin - Calvary - there
they crucified Him and the criminals, on the right and
other on the left.”

In Matthew’s record of the crucifixion we’re told that
the criminals were robbers.Jesus
is being crucified between two professional thieves.700 years earlier the prophet Isaiah predicted
that the Messiah would be thought of as common
criminal. (Isaiah 53:12).

Verse 34:“But Jesus
was saying, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not
know what they are doing.’And
they cast lots, dividing up His garments among
themselves.And the people stood
by, looking on.And even the
rulers were sneering at Him, saying ‘He saved others;
let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His
Chosen One.’The
soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering
Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the
Jews, save Yourself!’Now there
was an inscription above Him, ‘This is the king of the
Jews.’”

Let’s pause there and think about these three groups
of people.

Group one are the soldiers.They’ve
probably crucified dozens of people.They’re
professional crucifiers.John’s
Gospel tells us that there were four of them.Which is how the Romans did things - assigning
four soldiers per prisoner.These
four soldiers took Jesus’ clothes and divided them
into four parts.What was left
over was a one piece tunic - Jesus’ underwear - a
shirt that went from His neck to His knees.Because
tearing it into four pieces would have made it
worthless for wearing they gambled for it.

Can you imagine how much the underwear of Jesus would
be worth if it was auctioned on eBay?But
to them - these professionals - it was just a bonus
for a job well done.Just a piece
common clothing.

Later - when the crowd mocks Jesus - the soldiers join
in the fun.Why not.They’ve
seen this before.“If you
really are the King of the Jews, save yourself!You’re just another idiot hanging on a cross.”

Point being - the soldiers really didn’t care who
Jesus was.Here they are at the
foot of the cross - witnessing one of one of the two
greatest moments in human history-
the whole of human history - the universe - is
changing before their eyes - and for them its just
another day at the office.Jesus
is just another face in the parade of history.

The second group is the crowd - the onlookers - the
bystanders.These were the people
who had - either in person or by word of mouth -
they’d heard of Jesus’ claims of Messiahship - heard
His teaching about the Kingdom of God - heard about or
seen His miracles of healing - the exorcisms.Mark 15:29 says, “Those
passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their
heads, and saying, ‘Ha!You who
are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in
three days, save Yourself, and come down from the
cross!’”

That’s a harsh thing to say to anyone getting
crucified.“Na! Na!You went too far.All those
ridiculous claims.You got what’s
been coming to You.”

Point being - to the crowd Jesus is just another rabbi
- another prophet maybe - someone who said some things
worth thinking about - but definitely over the top
with all this Son of God stuff.If
He really was all those things He wouldn’t be hanging
on that cross.“Look at
what following Him will get you.We
ain’t going where He’s going.What
a jerk.”

The third group are the rulers - the chief priests -
the scribes - the elders - the religious hierarchy and
the political heads of the Jewish nation.These
are the people who felt so threatened by Jesus - how
He led the crowds - healed the sick - cast out demons
- even claimed to forgive sins.How
He spoke against them - threatened their carefully
constructed self-focused world.

When Pilate had the sign made “Jesus The Nazarene, The
King Of The Jews” - they’d objected. (John 19:19-22).These were the leaders of God’s people who’d
cried out, “We have no king but Caesar.”Leaders
who’ll do whatever is expedient to maintain their
position of power.

Their moment has come.Sneering -
mocking - gloating.“He saved
others.If He really is the
Messiah He should be able to save Himself.Come down and we’ll believe You.”

Point being - here’s a group who should have believed
Jesus - recognized Him for who He is - gotten on board
with Him - pointed others towards Him - yet they
rejected Him.He wouldn’t
recognize their authority.He
wouldn’t do religion their way.

What was that thought?“What was
true then is true now.”

If Jesus had been crucified in Merced last Friday
those same three groups of people would have been
there.The indifferent.The moral relativists.The
religious.All with one thing in
common.We do not believe that He
really is God crucified for us.

But the cross is at the heart of the Gospel.There is no Gospel without the crucifixion.No hope without the resurrection.

If one would take the time to actually read the Bible
- which is the most highly scrutinized - attested to -
ancient historical document - antedating the pseudo
historical Book of Judas.If one
would take the time to examine the ancient historical
record - even from the ancient historians writing
outside of Scripture - rather than listening to those
today who are trying to rewrite the past for their own
personal gain such as the Da Vinci Code - if one does
honest research there is only one inescapable
conclusion:It really was God -
Jesus - who died on that cross for the sins of all of
us.And He - Jesus - really
did leave that tomb on the first resurrection Sunday -
physically alive.

Paul writes to the Corinthian Church:“But now Christ has been raised form the dead,
the first fruits of those who are asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:20)Amen!

Which bring us to verse 39 - back to the thieves -
those who are about to die at the hands of the Roman
government.Verse 39:“One of the criminals who were
hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are
You not the Christ?Save
Yourself and us!’But the other
answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear
God, since you are under the same sentence of
condemnation?And we indeed are
suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve
for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

Matthew and Mark tell us that both thieves mocked
Jesus.Said the same things the
crowd had said.The thieves are
guilty.They’re paying their debt
to society.They probably figured
that Jesus was the same as them - corrupt - sinful -
worthy of condemnation and death.Why
else would Jesus be hanging there?And
what a nut to claim to be God - the Messiah.Why not mock Him?

But thief two repents.We don’t
know what happened to thief one.But
thief
two - as he’s watching the groups of people pass by.Hearing their mocking and ridicule.As He’s watching Jesus’ response - Jesus’
attitude to all that’s going on around Him and to Him
- these groups of people.As he
hears Jesus’ response, “Father, forgive them; for
they do not know what they’re doing.” Something
changes within thief two.

He comes to the realization, “We
deserve to be here.But not this
man.He’s innocent.The
crowd is wrong.They’ve got it
backwards.”Suddenly in a moment of
understanding - he sees that everything the crowd is
mocking Jesus for is really the truth.He
is the Son of God - the Messiah - the King entering
His kingdom.He’s not only able to
save Himself, but everyone else there as well.

Verse 42:“And he
was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come in Your
kingdom!’And Jesus said to him,
‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in
Paradise.’”

Thief two throws himself on the mercy of Jesus with
words that are echoed by every person recognizing
Jesus as the Savior.“Remember
me.Have mercy on me.Save me.Be gracious to me.I’m trusting You with my life.”“Jesus,
I
deserve this cross.But you are
the Messiah.I believe you are who
you say you are.Save me.”

Jesus’ answer is the ultimate statement of God’s
grace.“Today you
shall be with Me in Paradise.”

There are no rituals or formal rites required - no
taking communion or being baptized.There’s
no
church membership involved.No
expected religious or moral conduct to be lived out.No correct doctrinal statement or theological
framework to adhere to.The thief
doesn’t have to clean up his act and be good enough
before Jesus will save him.There’s
no formula “sinners” prayer.

Salvation doesn’t depend on any great wonderful good
thing that we do.Grace is getting
what we do not - what?Deserve.Salvation - forgiveness - life with God -
eternity in His kingdom.Salvation
is by grace received through - what?faith.Jesus - God dies - for those who deserve to die
- to offer us life with God.As
those who are about to die we’re asked only to trust
our lives to Him.“Remember
me.”

The reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection leaves
each of us with a choice of how our lives will be
lived.We cannot honestly be
indifferent - or make Jesus’s claims less than they
are - or practice a religion that focuses on us -
devoid of the power of the Living God.God
loves each of us so much that He died - is resurrected
- to offer us new life in Him.That
leaves us with a choice.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran Pastor when the
Nazi’s came to power in Germany.Bonhoeffer
watched the Church being persecuted.Saw
that
the Church was in serious trouble.So,
Bonhoeffer
joined the underground and began working for Hitler’s
defeat.As he spoke out against
the Nazi regime - eventually his words caught up with
him.On
April 5, 1943, he was arrested and imprisoned for his
political activities.

Two years laterBonhoeffer found
himself facing the death sentence.On
the
Sunday before he was executed he led a service of
worship for his fellow prisoners.One
prisoner - an English army officer who was later set
free - wrote these words describing the last day of
Bonhoeffer’s life:

“Bonhoeffer always seemed to me to spread an
atmosphere of happiness and joy over the least
incident, and profound gratitude for the mere fact
that he was alive…He was one of
the very few persons I have ever met for whom God was
real and always near…On Sunday,
April 8, 1945, Pastor Bonhoeffer conducted a little
service of worship and spoke to us in a way that went
to the heart of all of us.He
found just the right words to express the spirit of
our imprisonment, and the thoughts and resolutions it
had brought us.He had hardly
ended his last prayer when the door opened and two
civilians entered.They said,
“Prisoner Bonhoeffer, come with us.”That
had only one meaning for all prisoners - the gallows.We said good-bye to him.He
took me aside:“This is the end;
but for me it is the beginning of life.”The
next day he was hanged in Flossenburg.” (1)

“This is the end.But for me it is
the beginning of life.”What allows a man on the verge
of death - facing the worst that this life has to
offer - what allows a man to have such hope?Physically for thief two - condemned - facing
the very near end of life - what gives him hope - that
in God’s kingdom he has only begun to live.There must be more to life than death and
taxes.

The Apostle Peter writes, “Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
according to His great mercy has caused us to be born
again to a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead.”(1 Peter 1:3)

When we trust God with our lives, the Living God of
all creation - rather than condemning us - by His
mercy sets us free - gives us new life - a new
beginning - not because we deserve it - but because He
chooses to give it - chooses to forgive - chooses to
restore - chooses to heal - to give us a living hope -
a hope that cannot fail - that isn’t a collection of
some religious happy thoughts - but hope grounded in
the certainty of Jesus’ resurrection - salvation -
security in Jesus - the certain realization that one
day we will join our Lord and Savior forever and ever
- and that even now we live with the certain reality
of His presence in our lives.

What was that thought?“What was
true then is true - now.”Which is true for you today?Each of us is like one of those thieves.We are those who are about to die.But the man in the middle offers us something
completely different - a choice.

What was it William Wallace said? “All men
die.Few men actually live.”

Choose life.

_________________________

1. Ron
Ritchie - from the sermon:“How Can
We Maintain A Living Hope In The Midst Of Suffering.”1 Peter
1:3-5